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Alexander Povetkin was down twice in round four before knocking out Dillian Whyte in round five.
Russian heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin (36-2-1, 25 KOs) was in serious trouble after he was dropped twice by Dillian Whyte (27-2, 18 KOs) in Saturday’s Matchroom Boxing main event at Matchroom Headquarters in England. Surely he couldn’t come back from that, right?
Wrong. Extremely wrong.
Boxing’s 2020 KO of the Year may already be locked up because early in round five, Povetkin put Whyte to sleep in shocking fashion with a beautiful uppercut. Whyte was out before he hit the canvas and Povetkin went from on the verge of defeat to sheer joy after a spectacular KO.
Here’s the finish below, courtesy of DAZN:
HOLY SHIT POVETKIN JUST DID THAT pic.twitter.com/cauFrB0nbL
— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) August 22, 2020
There is a rematch clause for Whyte-Povetkin based on the contracts, and I’m sure that bonkers finish is worth watching again. Still, Povetkin risked plunging out of the heavyweight upper echelon with a loss here and he delivered a one hitter quitter for the ages.
As for Whyte, this is his first loss since the Anthony Joshua bout in 2015. For someone with aspirations of rematching Joshua or taking on Tyson Fury, those dreams are surely shelved for the time being.